NANNA & POPS COME TO VISIT FROM SA!

Taking a boat out on the river almost every Sunday, is a great way to get away from it all.

Flamboyant Trees in full bloom.

Now you can understand that the reason why I have not been able to write is that I have been busy playing tour guide to my parents.

Kinshasa may not be a city for tourists, but it can be so social! We have showed them that this town is not a "sleepy hollow".

Playing golf with Dad, partying Friday night with the Spanish. A lovely Saturday morning drive to the rapids, followed by a lazy Saturday afternoon watching the Currie Cup Final on t.v.

But most fun was had by an exciting outing on the river yesterday. We managed to just get back to the boat club in time, as a storm passed over. With jet skiing, swimming and having a braai on a river island.

Cool Kinshasa!

After yesterday's heat, we experienced a lot cooler weather today, oh about 25degC. Mostly cloudy! It was awesome, a little bit of rain was just what was necessary to wash down the dust from the air. I was on a high this morning, had a great yoga class, followed by my French lesson, then the rain, but it all came crashing down, when I couldn't get the DSTV technician to secure my dish (sattelite) as it had been moved over the weekend by the storm. He had promised since Sunday to come and assist. My wee petite French did not help get my frustration and anger across, and he made me huff smoke, after I had speaking English to him all along, and he insisted that I spoke French. WELL that was THAT! I had had it! All that humiliation, and it never worked, he still only arrived after 4pm, after getting a colleague at Paul's work to call his office manager. The job couldn't have taken longer than 15minutes.
All this makes me realise that you have to accept and move on, no matter how difficult it is. After chatting with with some "new arrivals" yesterday, I have also come to the realisation that we are visitors here, this is how life carries on here, and when we leave, they(locals) will still be here, and life goes on at the same pace here. It will undoubtedly change, not for us, not for anyone!

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

I did mention about the beginning of this year, that I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about bringing meat into the country. I do agree, it's a bit ridiculous when you can get just about everything here, at a price of course. But, we all love our food, and we get used to a certain kind of lifestyle when it comes to food. We are spoilt for choice in a Western World, especially when you think of retail food stores like "Woolies" for all you South Africans. Convenience, at it's best! You just cannot get any better. Today I went shopping at new place called Kin Foods, and it's a cold food storage warehouse, where a list of meat products are displayed on a black board, and you order off the board. Well, just about everything I wanted was out of stock, excepting the frozen chicken pieces. I then had to go to another store "Hasson & Frere"to buy something else, and then another store to buy bread " Pelou", as I couldn't find the bread aisle at all, either that, or they were also out of stock. That's the story of shopping experiences, it could take you an entire morning to do fill one grocery bag. Take for instance, I was looking for Pili-Pili ( the strong chillies -homegrown) in a plastic bottle. I had bought it before, and seen it at the one shop, but last Friday, I needed it for Paul to take with for my cousin, who had requested it. I went from shop to shop, but only found these huge bottles. Never did find it, until today, it popped up while shopping for cheese.
Well now I have just emailed a long list of meat for Paul to bring back with him. I must say, it's relatively easy on SAA, just pop it into a cooler bag, and checked it through from Johannesburg. The only problem we have is, that we always have to stay over one night en route, as there are no early morning flights to make the connection from Cape Town. So the oddest request is usually to ask housekeeping at the hotel to store it for you. Phew! What a mission! But well worth it!

NEEDLESS TO SAY!

This evening the lightning and thunder and the start of heavy rains, shook my entire household! Fin ( the spotty dog), aka "Needless to say" ( the name printed on his thoroughbred papers!), continued to remind us, by his deafening bark, that he was in charge of the house, not the thunder. This went on for about 2 hours, right through Torden's bed time. It usually lasts the entire night.

I feel so lonely and sad, as Paul left this morning for his long round trip via Kenya to Cape Town. Just the thought of him going home, saddens me, the mere fact that he will be where I would like to be right now. Don't get me wrong, it's not homesickness, it's not that I don't like living here, it's just how I feel, and I don't think anything will make it better. That's just how it is.

But I'm going to make the most of this week, by clearing the clutter, cleaning up the house, seeing friends and by being fully present with whatever comes my way.
My folks arrive next week Sunday, and I am so looking forward to spending time with them in the Congo. I don't have any plans, but I know we will plan as we go along.

Just to summarise my week, I had yoga on Monday with French , Tuesday was fun at the Women's Group, and then a few of us had lunch afterwards at the Chinese Restaurant. Wednesday was yoga again, then our Reiki group, in the evening our favourite Frenchie friend came over for dinner. We discussed our December holiday with him in Europe. Thursday was French lessons, and then came the weekend. We ended up having dinner last night at the Italian place, as a family, it's a great place to go.

HARRY POTTER'S BIRTHDAY!

"Harry Potter and the Wizard Hat Cake"

Torden turned 4 on the 2nd of October. He had his party in the afternoon after school. 3 hours of magical fun! With games led by Prof Dumbledore ( Dad) and Prof McGonnogel ( Mom).

Our dining room had turned into a classroom at Hogwarts School of Magic!

Activities!

I am having a hard time of late trying to keep up a schedule as it's become so full. I now give our driver a "program" as he requested it, on a weekly basis. Today I started a new class of African/Salsa, very interesting dance class. We have an extremely vibrant teacher, who comes over from Brazzaville ( across the river) every to teach an exhilirating class. He also gives Torden Hip Hop classes on a Monday. I must say, I've been to a few salsa lessons in Cape Town, and after a while I get bored, not sure if it's the music that has the same beat, or a different tune, or if it's not my style of dance. I grew up in modern dance shoes, and always loved that. In actual fact, I love any form of dance, so these classes are the most fun, even though we are exercising for an hour. The mix of African dance eliminates any form of boredom!

I was talking to a friend of mind, about all these happenings in Kinshasa, and we think it's a new arrival of expats, a definite increase in volume, and an interest in the DRC in general. The greatest part of all, is we are all here at the same level, we're all foreigners either helping the country directly or indirectly. We also have to stick together, to make life more bearable here, as the loneliness, if you allow it, can get hold of you. We make life! Life doesn't make us! ( Wow, what did I just say?)